Western society’s tendency toward unhealthy lifestyles is well documented. Physical education can be a powerful resource in resisting this trend, helping children build healthy habits that extend not only beyond the classroom but beyond their school years as well.
For years, author Crystal Gorwitz has been at the forefront of a wave of healthy changes by developing a high-quality physical education curriculum: Her school has won a PEP grant and two NASPE STARS School awards, and she was honored as NASPE’s National Middle School Teacher of the Year in 2004. She shares her award-winning experience in Teaching Healthy Lifestyles in Middle School PE: Strategies From an Award-Winning Program.
Chapter 1 Getting Started
It’s all about the PATH!
Chapter 2 Beyond Dressing Out
Use authentic assessment to find out how healthy your students are (or aren’t)!
Chapter 3 Unit Plans for a Lifetime
Moving beyond sport leads to motivated lifetime movers!
Chapter 4 Fitness Warm-Ups
Use the five components of fitness to plan fun warm-up activities that build your students’ bodies and minds!
Chapter 5 Using Heart Rate Monitors and Pedometers
Simple, inexpensive technologies can provide images of a healthy lifestyle!
Chapter 6 Staff Wellness
Follow the PATHway to a successful wellness program!
Chapter 7 After-School and Summer Programs
Promoting a healthy lifestyle beyond the classroom!
Crystal Gorwitz has been teaching physical education since 1992. She is a 2001 Carol M. White PEP grant recipient, the 2003 Wisconsin Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year, the 2003 Midwest Middle School Teacher of the Year, and the 2004 NASPE National Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year. She also was selected for the 2011 Champion Award from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.
A teacher at Hortonville Middle School in Hortonville, Wisconsin, Gorwitz led her school in receiving NASPE STARS School Awards in 2005 and 2008. This award recognizes schools with physical education programs of excellence. Under her guidance, her school also received a Bronze Award from the Alliance for a Healthy Generation, which recognizes schools that provide a healthy environment for students’ learning.
Gorwitz is a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and is president-elect of Wisconsin AHPERD. In her spare time, she enjoys doing yoga, fishing, and kayaking.